Interview with the owners of the Willingen summer toboggan run
Leisure & Adventure
The Bergwelt Ritzhagen not only offers the summer toboggan runbut also a mountain cart track, summer tubing, wooden ball tracks and the hut restaurant Einkehrschwung, as well as pure winter sports. The owners Natalie & Christian Rummel provide exclusive insights.
What makes Willingen and its region so special?
Natalie & Christian Rummel: Willingen offers its guests over 20 leisure facilities in one place. Whether summer or winter, sun, rain or snow – there is something for every season, for every weather and, above all, for every taste. And best of all: our Willingen leisure world is located in the middle of the beautiful Sauerland countryside, so that the often very short distances between the various attractions also allow you to breathe in the fresh mountain air and enjoy unique panoramic views.
What specifically does Willingen offer tourists?
Natalie & Christian Rummel: Willingen is a leisure and sports paradise, surrounded by mountains, meadows and forests. Leisure and sports enthusiasts, especially families and active holidaymakers, will find everything their hearts desire here: over 20 leisure attractions for all weathers and all seasons, an attractive ski area, varied bike trails for beginners and pros, hiking and adventure trails as well as a large selection of gastronomic offerings.
What can our future guests look forward to when they visit the summer toboggan run?
Natalie & Christian Rummel: “Off to the Ritzhagen mountain world” – this is the motto we use to advertise a visit to our summer toboggan run, which is much more than that. On our adventure mountain in the middle of the Willingen countryside, numerous attractions invite you to take a break from everyday life: If you love to let the wind whizz around your ears, our 700-metre-long toboggan run with panoramic views is just the thing for you. Thanks to special braking technology, nothing stands in the way of fun even in wet conditions.
Our playground with two 60 m long wooden ball tracks, 6-field trampoline and summer tubing track makes children’s hearts beat faster.
“Tricycles are a thing of the past” is the motto at our newest attraction: all generations can get on a mountain cart and then whizz down our ski slope on three wheels for 1100 meters. You can ride uphill in comfort on our Ritzhagen 6-seater chairlift, which hikers are also welcome to use.
If you work up an appetite after so much action, our team will be happy to spoil you in our modern hut restaurant “Einkehrschwung”.
Who are the attractions particularly suitable for?
Natalie & Christian Rummel: Our leisure mountain with summer toboggan run, mountain cart track etc. is of course the perfect excursion destination for families and groups of children and young people, but holidaymakers of all ages with an affinity for leisure can also have a great time with us. In addition, our leisure mountain is located directly on attractive hiking and biking trails and invites you to take a break. Our hut restaurant is certified as a hiking hut.
And in winter too, the Ritzhagen is the perfect address for families who want to go skiing and tobogganing. Professionals can make their turns on our neighboring Sonnenlift.
Is there an insider tip? What should you definitely do when you visit?
Natalie & Christian Rummel: You should definitely try out our mountain carts. A descent down our ski slope is fun for all generations. Put on your helmet and off you go. The two hand brakes, which everyone knows from cycling, make it very easy to set your own pace.
And if you used to love your marble run, you should definitely try out our two 60-meter-long wooden marble runs, because this is marble fun in XXL.
As our little guests are particularly important to us in our family business, they can get to know our attractions with the help of our “Dwarf Rally”. The puzzle fun leads across the entire site and our dwarf mascots are happy to help solve the tasks.
What considerations are there for the future?
Natalie & Christian Rummel: Skiing is still a very important source of income for us. However, as the winters here in the low mountain range are unfortunately not always reliable, we are focusing on expanding our summer and year-round business in the future. The central idea for this is the construction of two summer toboggan runs. The modern Coster technology is almost independent of the weather and the operation of two different types of toboggan run in parallel provides additional variety for guests. In addition, a family adventure trail from the chairlift mountain station to the valley station is being planned and, of course, we will continue to try to make our leisure mountain a new experience with many small and large attractions in the future.
How important is new accommodation like the Hotel Schutzhütte for the region?
Natalie & Christian Rummel: Hotel projects such as the Schutzhütte, as well as other accommodation aimed at families and leisure and sports enthusiasts, are important milestones for our region. Willingen has been working for a long time to expand its offers for these target groups. In addition to attractive leisure facilities, this naturally also includes attractive and high-quality accommodation and catering establishments.
In terms of family tourism, the Schutzhütte, like the Sonnenpark, will become a flagship for Willingen and hopefully attract many guests to our beautiful region or keep them there.
What else would you like to pass on to our future guests?
Natalie & Christian Rummel: Willingen offers a unique density of leisure facilities throughout Germany, embedded in beautiful nature. Discover and experience this diversity to the full and enjoy a wonderful break from everyday life – without having to get on a plane. And maybe you will all like it so much that your children will travel to Willingen again with their children at some point ….
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We would like to thank the Rummel family for this very detailed interview. Find out more about the toboggan run and co. at sommerrodelbahn-willingen.de
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